Why do so many people insist that LPN'S AREN'T REAL NURSES!!??
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I mean, the title does have "Nurse" in it.So why are so many people insisting that LPN's arent real nurses? When I go to the hospital, I see these people giving medication , care, comfort and other... Read More

Oct 1, '06

My lying hospital is applying for Magnet Status, and I feel that they are not great with patient care. I'd actually get mad if they actually get it. And the meetings are a pain in the rear. Thanks for the clarity.

Oct 1, '06

Some of the best Nurses in the burn unit in Augusta,Ga are LPN's. When I first started working there, I didn't even know their title. Truly, I have the very highest respect for these professionals. I would have no problem with being cared for by these nurses. LPN's, you are real nurses and my hat is off to you.

Oct 2, '06

If you all think about it , it is the educational system at the root of this debate. They are the ones that place this idea in the minds of RN students. I am LVN acute care and we have both university BSN students and AS community college students- I have gotten an earfull from these students.
It is the school. Why? School is business. And they prop up their programs.

Oct 2, '06

My hospital as well is applying for magnet status and as someone on my floor explained to me, LPNs aren't included in magnet status which I think is totally absurd. On just my floor alone there are four LPNs working on different shifts and they're awesome nurses. So I don't know what exactly my hospital is going to be doing with them in the name of this magnet status malarchy. And I don't know where they're going to find nurses better than the LPNs on my floor. It's kind of disgusting that there's some real talk about getting rid of them. Three of those LPNs on my floor have been there for over ten years. Getting kicked out of their hospital for the latest trendy hospital trophy is no reward for loyalty. I'm going to a different hospital, but I would be anyways if anything happened to my co-workers.

Oct 2, '06

Some of the best nurses are LPNs. Many people have said it, and I agree. It really has a lot to do with experience. Someone might have known some new LPNs and thought they didn't know much. (so they assumed all LPNs are that way) But the same thing happens with new RNs or Doctors, etc.etc... Many experienced LPNs know more and are better nurses than many new or "old" RNs. As a Paramedic, I feel the same way. (like 'ol Rodney Dangerfield-no respect) People meet a few inexperienced medics and they think we are all that way. After 17 years I am light years ahead of where I used to be. Now I teach ACLS and PALS to Nurses, Doctors and other Medics and I can tell you that none of those 3 levels mean anything. Every class is different. Sometimes the Nurses are the brightest. sometimes the medics and once in a while the Drs even know a thing or two! Just let the disrespect fuel you to study everything you get your hands on, and you will knock the socks off of everyone and they will be asking you questions. The letters after your name don't mean a thing! Anyone can study on their own and know as much as an MD or more.

Oct 3, '06

I'm an LPN who has encountered this negativity also. I had a family member of one of my patients tell me that LPN's are "little pretend nurses" and RN's are "real nurses". I chose to ignore her comment, but it is always in the back of my mind when I am dealing with her.

Hang in there!

Oct 4, '06

We are not really included in the magnet status meetings, either. Actually, it does not bother me, because I am relieved of being phony. I don't want to deal with any of the nursing administrators more than I have to.

To leave a small example of how grimy behavior goes across the titles, I have an Associate Director of Nursing that actually puts her nasty hands in people's food without asking whenever she is hungry, and the other day, she asked me for 50 cents. Now, she makes more than $80,000 per year to me $37,000 and she had to nerve and gall to ask ME for such a petty amount of money? She should be embarassed and more discrete with her lack of funds, but, no she isn't.

No, title CLEARLY does not matter...

Oct 4, '06

Quote from casey12873

I'm an LPN who has encountered this negativity also. I had a family member of one of my patients tell me that LPN's are "little pretend nurses" and RN's are "real nurses". I chose to ignore her comment, but it is always in the back of my mind when I am dealing with her.

Hang in there!

Next time, tell them that you'll pretend to take care of their family member, then...sigh...I know you really can't but, one day, they will think twice before they disrepect someone caring for them and may live to eat those words.

Oct 4, '06

Quote from rambisisking

How do I say this....

See here's the deal...

I became a nurse so I could care for and nurse people who needed someone to care for and nurse them.

I have been doing that since 1974.

Being an LPN has not prevented me from doing that.

Getting an RN would not have allowed me to do that more.

It matters not to me if I get paid as much as an RN.

It matters not if you think I am a nurse.

It matters not if you don't think I am a nurse.

It matters only that I can still care for and nurse people who need cared for and nursed.

I can make boo-boo's go away, big ones and small ones and as long as I can do that what else could possibly matter?

Starting tomorrow I think I'll refer to myself as the 'boo boo fixer nurse' and anyone with qualities to do the same may join my 'boo boo fix nurse club'.

That will stop the confusion. Either we can fix boo boo's or we can't. I can.

Anybody want to join my new club?

Oct 5, '06

Quote from Stella-Ohio

Starting tomorrow I think I'll refer to myself as the 'boo boo fixer nurse' and anyone with qualities to do the same may join my 'boo boo fix nurse club'.

That will stop the confusion. Either we can fix boo boo's or we can't. I can.

Anybody want to join my new club?

Amen Sister!

:groupwelcome: I believe I've always been a member.
Life is so much easier when we stick to the simple truths.

Oct 5, '06

Don't feel badly.

The same mouthpieces that advocate that LVN/LPNs aren't real nurses also advocate that ADNs are 'technical' nurses and diploma programs should be eliminated altogether.

After forty years of such nonsense, those issue haven't gone anywhere.

Changing the future of nursing education always required, and always WILL require a consensus and professional empowerment, and not a divisive insult.

This very argument has served, for forty years, to completely undermine the position that supports it.

Too bad our 'professional' organization doesn't 'get' this. They remained mired in useless distinctions with the result of 5% membership of RNs, and signficantly less of all nurses. And, THIS is why.

~faith,
Timothy.

Last edit by ZASHAGALKA on Oct 5, '06

Oct 5, '06

Quote from Stella-Ohio

Starting tomorrow I think I'll refer to myself as the 'boo boo fixer nurse' and anyone with qualities to do the same may join my 'boo boo fix nurse club'.

That will stop the confusion. Either we can fix boo boo's or we can't. I can.

Anybody want to join my new club?

Count me in as a member of your new club! I can fix boo-boos too!:wink2:

Oct 5, '06

Well said HeatherLPN. You could not have said it better. Thanks to the LPN"s I became a better RN,BSN. like you said, it's not about the title, it's about how much you care about the people. Unfornately, there are those who only care about having a title, and how much $$ they are going to make in this profession, without taking in consideration, that the LPN's are talented nurses, who with their love, kindness, and devotion to their work, have all taught us what nursing is really all about, in some way or another.

Quote from HeatherLPN

I don't understand why it feels like LPN's have to defend their decision to be "just an LPN". I enjoy being an LPN, and I'm not sure that I will go back. It doesn't mean I don't have teh skills or brains to be an RN, I just choose not to go back at this point in my life. To me, an LPN is still a nurse, still has skills, and an LPN with 20+ years experience is going to be able to teach you a heck of a lot. It's not about the title, it's about how you care for people, whether you're a CNA, LPN, RN or higher.